Drier



l July 7,1925.v 1,514,5151

J. J. LYTH DRIERA Filed Marfh l0, 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 July 7, l 925.

1,545,151 J. J. LYTH DRIER Filed March lO. 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 constructed that, while the spacing' ofthe Patented July 7, 1925..

YUNITED S'IATE@y asian* JOHN J. LYTII, Q33' VALLEYFIELD, QUEBEC, CANADA..

DRIER.

Application iled March l0, 1924.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that l, JOHN J. LYTH, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and resident of the city of Valleyfield, in the Province of Quebec and Dominion. of Canada, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Driers, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

rlihis invention relates to apparatus for drying material in strip or ribbon'form such as cloth, paper and the like where it is not desirable to haverthe material in contact with the drying element.

,The apparatus at present used for drying cloth in certain stages of manufacture comprises a series of hollow plates arranged vertically in closely spaced relation. and heated by passing steam into them; AThe cloth is led up and down between the plates but out of contact therewith. For

'various' reasons these plate driers are expensive to install and owing to their` construction cannot be repaired in ordinary mills, so that expensive delays are occasioned by waiting for fresh plates to be received. Furthermore, plate driers have the disadvantage that moisture driven out of the cloth is held in close contact with vthe cloth by the plates and can escape only at the edges of the plates.V A mechanical disad- `vantage of the closely spaced platesy is that thick'portions in the cloth, occasioned by sewing the ends of two pieces together, frequentlystick between the plates causing the cloth to tear.

One of the objects, therefore, of this invention is' to provide a drierwhich may be easily and cheaply manufactured and which may be repaired easily and quickly in t-he mill.

Another of the objects is to provide a drier so constructed that the moisture driven out of cloth may escape from contact with the cloth.

A further object is to provide a drieriso cloth from the drier elements is not greater than usual, there is nevertheless ample room for passage of seams through the drier without danger of tearing thev cloth.

A still further object is .to provide adrier of increased efficiency.

Additional objects and advantages maybe ascertained from the following description and from the accompanying'drawings.

'According tothe invention the drier is Serial No. 698,229.

composed of two sections each comprising a plurality of connected headers carrying parallel tubes. The headers of each section are connected together side by side so as to provide a block of parallel tubes arranged in widely spaced vertical and closely spaced horizontal rows. The two sections are assembled so that the tubes are staggered` The spacing is such that narrow vertical passages are left between the vertical tube rows of the combined sections for the passages of the cloth.

In the accompanying' drawings, i which illustrate. one embodiment of the invention:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the drier.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same.

Fig. 3 is an end elevation of one section of the drier, partly in vertical section and illustrating in broken lines the positions that will be occupied by the tubes of the complementary section, and also illustrating the manner of passing cloth through the drier.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of a unit showing an alternative form of tube and alternative form of unit connection.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary detail further illustrating the form of unit connection.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, 11 designates a plurality of similar headers, preferably of cast iron and of any suitable cross-section, which, for convenience of description, has been shown as square. Each header is provided on opposite sides, near the ends, with faced annular bosses 1Q. surrounding openings 13 communicating with the interior of the header. A boss 14 is formed on each end of the header and .is adapted to be tapped for attachment of steam inlet and outlet pipes. Onone of the remaining sides of thev header a boss or bosses 15 -are provided and tapped for insertion of a plurality of closely spaced pipes 1G which are arranged in parallelism and perpendicular to the header. rlhe free ends of these pipes are closed by plugs or welding. On the remaining side of the header a suitable number of supporting lugs 17 are provided. Itlwill be understood that the provision of the bosses 1li and 15 is merely a matter of common practice to provide strength locally and that they are not essential to the invention. It will further be understood that if desiredtwo sorts of headers maybe used, the one `adapted for connection to' circulating pipes andfhaving end bosses 14, and the other not adapted for such connection and not having bosses.

Each header with its attached pipes 16 constitutes a drier unit. As many units as desired are assembled to -form a drier section. The assembly is accomplished by placing the headers side by side with their faced lugs 12 in abutting relation. Rods 1S are then passed through all sections at top and bottoni and secured by caps Vor blind nuts 19 which serve to bind the units together .and also to ,close the outer openings 13 .of the outer headers. lt will be understood that the invention is not confined to the structural features described for assembly as any other usual method of assembling radiator sections may be employed. One or more vheaders of each section is tapped in its top and bottoni bosses 14 for connection of the steam inlet ,pipe 2O and condensate .outlet pipe 21. `When the units l:are assembled into a section the tubes will be in Vertical and horizontal rows, the vertical rows being spaced soniowlli? :IllOle than twice the ldiameter of a tube apart, center to center and the horizontal rows somewhat more .than .the diameter of a tube apart.

Two sections are assembled to complete the drier ,in such a manner that the vertical tube rows interdgitate, leaving narrow ver.- tica-l passages between. .One Vsection is set slightly lower than the other (by suitable positioning of supports 22 on which the sections hang by engagement of the lugs 17 with the supports), so that the tubes of the combined sections lare in staggered 'arrangement, as clearly s liown in Figures 1 and 3.

The. drier is plaed between the usual upper and lower rolls 23 which ylead the cloth up and down, the rolls being of proper size and location to keep the cloth in the middle of .each vertical passage between the tube rows and thus out of contact with the tubes.

lnstead oi the rods 18'which connect all sections together, the bosses 12 may be provided witlislot-ted lugs 24 (Figures 4 and 5) into which bolts 25 may be dropped to connect the units individually to one another and to Aenable any unit to be removed from a section without :breaking all the joints in the sect-ion as is the 4case when common conf neeting means, such as the rods 18, are used. Preferably these lugs project in the longitudinal direction of the headers and are pret erably disposed at di a-inetrically opposite points of the bosses in order that pressure may be uniformly distributed .in the joints when the fastenings are tightened, While bolts have been shown, it will be understood that any other suitable forni of fastening may be substituted.

en in use, the tubes are heated by concli-irisation .of .Steam therein and radiate this heatte the. cloth passing .between .them- Owing Ato the staggered arrangement eachV tube is opposite the space between tubes of adjacent rows, so that moisture driven out of the cloth in passing each tube can escape ff'i'om close Contact with the cloth into the Aspaces between tubes of the adjacent row.

"liV'hile the straight passages between the vert-ical tube ro-wsaite very narrow or restricted, :is in existing plate driers, 1t will be readily seen from Figure 3 that, owing closest proximity to the cloth, so that cloth may be passed more rapidly through a tube drier than through a plate drier of equal size or conversely a smaller tube drier will sufiice it' the speed .of the cloth is not increased.

Various modifications are possible withoutl i departing from the spirit o the invention; for example, ythe tubes may be U-shaped as shownin Figure t.

Having thus .described my invention, what I claim is y l. A drier comprising a pair of similar sections each composed of a series of multi.- tube units, the units of the two sectionsin.- terdigitating and 4defining narrow passages.

2. A drier comprising a pair of similar sections each composed of a series Ofcom nected units` each unit including 'a header and a plurality of tubes connected thereto, the units of the two sections interdigitating and defining narrow passages. v

3. A drier comprising a pair of multitube sections, the tubes of each section being arranged in spaced rows and the rows of the two sections interdigita-ting.

,4. A drier comprising a pair of multitubo sections, the tubes of the two sections inter,- digitating .and being arranged in staggered relation and defining restricted stra-ight passages.

5. A drier comprising a series of tubes in staggered arrangement defining restricted straight passages extending in one direction only and occupying parallel planes.

,6. A drier comprising a series of tubes in staggered arrangement defining narrow straight passagesv and Wider tortuous as, sages coinciding in part with the Stral ht passages, said straight passages extending in one direction only and occupying parallel planes.

7. A drier comprisin a pair of multitubo sections having vthe tages thereof arranged in rows perpendicular to one another, the rows in one direction being spaced a little more than twice the diameter of a tube and the rows in the other direction being spaced a little more than the diameter of a tube, and means to so support the sections that the widely spaced tube rows thereof interdigitate and the tubes assume a staggered. relation.

8. A drier comprising a series of units each including a header and a series oi' tubes, each tube being connected at one end to the header and being closed at the other end.

9. A drier comprising a series of tubes arranged in closely spaced rows in one direction, and providing narrow passages between the rows for movement of a sheet to be dried, the tubes being in staggered relation to provide opposite any tube a space for escape of moisture from the sheet to be dried.

10. A drier tor material in sheet form, comprising a series of drying` elements arranged in rows and between which the sheet material passes, said drying elements being disposed to heat any part of the moving sheet alternately on opposite sides and to provide moisture escape passages on the opnosite side or" the sheet 'from each of said drying elements.

ll. A drier comprising a plurality oli' sections, mutually engaging annular bosses on said sections for bringing the sections into communication with one another, and means for connecting` the sections, slotted lugs on the section bosses and fastening means engageable in the lug slots.

12. A drier comprising tubes arranged in spaced parallel rows, the tubes of adjacent rows being in staggered relation whereby tortuous pasages are formed between the tube rows, the spacing of the tube rows being such that clear straight passages are formed between adjacent tube rows and contained within the tortuous passages and of less width than the tortuous passa-ges.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

JOHN J. LYTH. 

